Mummies
Middle coffin, inner coffin, and mummy of Nesmutaatneru, Egyptian, Late Period, Dynasty 25, 760-660 BC. Wood, plastered linen over wood, human remains, linen, faience. Egypt Exploration Fund by subscription.
Mummy mask (detail), Egyptian, Roman Imperial Period, AD 1–50. Painted and gilded cartonnage, inlaid glass. Gift of Lucien Viola, Horace L. and Florence E. Mayer Fund, Helen and Alice Colburn Fund, Marilyn M. Simpson Fund, William Francis Warden Fund, and William Stevenson Smith Fund.
Portrait mummy of a man (detail), Egyptian, Roman Imperial Period, AD 150–175. Encaustic (colored wax) on wood over linen and human remains. Egyptian Research Account by subscription.
Middle coffin, inner coffin, and mummy of Nesmutaatneru, Egyptian, Late Period, Dynasty 25, 760-660 BC. Wood, plastered linen over wood, human remains, linen, faience. Egypt Exploration Fund by subscription.
Mummy mask (detail), Egyptian, Roman Imperial Period, AD 1–50. Painted and gilded cartonnage, inlaid glass. Gift of Lucien Viola, Horace L. and Florence E. Mayer Fund, Helen and Alice Colburn Fund, Marilyn M. Simpson Fund, William Francis Warden Fund, and William Stevenson Smith Fund.
Portrait mummy of a man (detail), Egyptian, Roman Imperial Period, AD 150–175. Encaustic (colored wax) on wood over linen and human remains. Egyptian Research Account by subscription.
The ancient Egyptians wanted to defy death and live forever. In preparation, they mummified the dead, burying them in coffins covered with religious scenes and texts, and surrounding them with grave goods to sustain them in the afterlife. With more than 140 objects ranging in date from about 1700 BC to AD 300, the Mummies gallery introduces visitors to the gods and goddesses who inhabited the underworld, and to the journey taken to reach them. The installation features five embalmed dignitaries, including the husband and wife duo of Nesptah and Tabes, still enclosed in their elaborately decorated cases, and Nesmutaatneru, whose blue bead-adorned mummy was buried in a series of three coffins. Other objects include carved tomb chapel walls, painted coffins, statues, magical equipment, papyri, and canopic jars, designed to hold the mummified organs of the deceased. Dominating the gallery is the massive black stone sarcophagus lid of Kheperra, a general in the 6th century BC.
- Egypt: Funerary Arts Gallery (Gallery 109)